Coffee Dharma

Gilbert House

Yesterday I took our son to A.C. Gilbert’s Discovery Village.  For those not familiar with A.C. Gilbert, he was probably the greatest scientific toy inventor in American history.  He was born in Salem, OR (our town) and invented and created such toys as the Erector Set, American Flyer trains, the Atomic Energy Lab, and 150+ [...]

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Busy Times

Sorry I haven’t written here in a while.  We’re still getting adjusted to living in our new home and I was working on a redesign on CoffeeDaze.com this past week. Emma is getting older quickly and becoming a lot more interesting as time goes on.  She is a very smiley girl who loves to laugh and [...]

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Shared Pain

Yesterday was an interesting day. We started the day by going to the doctors for the kid’s shots.  When Kellen was a baby the shots process didn’t bother me much.  It’s not that I’m sadistic but I think the delayed pain reaction from him and the necessity of the shots just balanced for me enough that [...]

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The Mothership

We have suffered through multiple strollers over the years with our kids.  I’m often left wondering what the designers were thinking when they made the device.  Yesterday we bought a Kolcraft Contour Tandem and after using for a day I can say it is the best designed stroller I have ever seen or used.  [...]

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Basic Training

Ah we have entered a new stage in the joys of parenting…          toilet training. There was a time when I assumed there was nothing much worse than the never ceasing changing of diapers.  The smells, monotony and disgust of the entire process were almost more than I could handle.  Of course that is something every parent [...]

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Papa Day

Fourteen years ago I would have laughed at the thought of being a parent.  My life was a cavalcade of haphazard adventures at that time.  I had embarked on a personal journey (physically and metaphysically) that would continue for the next decade.  With dozens of moves and discoveries I found myself farther and farther away [...]

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Emma June

Yesterday morning at a little after 8 am we welcomed Emma June into our family. She weighed in at 7 lb. 1.5 oz. and 19 1/2 in. She is a happy, healthy and loud little girl with a full head of hair and bright blue eyes, just like her big brother.

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The First Halloween

Dressed in his full pirate regalia (maybe an homage to TFSM?) our son was let loose upon the unsuspecting populace to pillage and riot. This is the first year we have taken Kellen out for Trick or Treating and it was a success. We went to a local mall for ease. He quickly [...]

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Aging and Discovery

Today marked the thirtieth year I have lived on this planet. The day came and went with relative silence yet somewhere I heard something shift. Today also marked the day I received the news that we are having a girl. Today marked the day I realized what kind of father I [...]

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Viral Exposure

Any parent with a young child will completely understand this posting… (well, unless you one of those parents who thinks TV is the devil) I have been in a few bands in my day including a couple death metal groups and some punk varieties. I am eclectic in my musical tastes and regularly include everything [...]

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